Hope this is one of the next best places to post and be able to return to. Going to the spotify/meta hosted community forum isn’t working out for me due to login issues on multiple browsers and difficulty finding a report like my problem. Typing in just “Jam not working” on their website didn’t even bring slightly relevant results.

So, each time I click a link a friend shares with me to join their Jam (formerly known as Group Session), the spotify app opens. If opened earlier and not on my homepage, it switches to the homepage. If the app was closed before, it opens to my homepage. After either scenario, nothing happens. If I’m playing spotify music already, the app opens to my homepage, and the music keeps playing. If I initiated a Jam, then click my friend’s invite link, it opens to the homepage, the music I had continues playing, it shows I’m still in my own Jam, and nothing else happens. No matter how long I wait for something to happen after the homepage shows up, my friend’s jam never comes up on my screen.

In case this is relevant:

• Running android 13
• Spotify version 8.8.80.599
• VPN sometimes on, sometimes off, but same bug occurs either way. About a week ago, spotify would only open to show a message along the lines of “no internet connection”, but it went away once VPN turned off.
• Logging in through fb account without issue, even after uninstalling/reinstalling the spotify app
• Subscribed with Premium Duo as main account manager (post edit: this fact was actually irrelevant)

Thank you for taking your time to read this post.

SOLVED: Spotify loathes VPNs, maybe? I haven’t tested with a home VPN service. Consistently, I only get this problem when my phone is connected to VPN. The little key icon in the top-right appears when I’m connected one of my VPN services. I didn’t pay close enough attention earlier. Also consistently, if I induce this error message, spotify jam only works after ensuring my VPN service is turned off (it could still be running, but as long as I’m not connected to vpn) AND I’ve swipe-closed spotify from my recent apps/task-switcher, then reopened the app.